Are You Sure
by ayarian88
Summary: When Lorelai got pregnant at 16, it wasn't with Rory. It was with her older brother, James. Lorelai and Christopher got married. Christopher followed in his father's footsteps and became a lawyer. When James was two, Rory came along. They grew up in Hartford and went to Chilton Academy.
1. Chapter 1

_When Lorelai got pregnant at 16, it wasn't with Rory. It was with her older brother, James. Lorelai and Christopher got married. Christopher followed in his father's footsteps and became a lawyer. When James was two, Rory came along. They grew up in Hartford and went to Chilton Academy. They knew that when they got older, they would have responsibilities. James would be the Gilmore Heir and Rory would be the Hayden Heiress. They were the only two children of the Hartford elite that came from two prominent Hartford families. When James graduated high school, he headed off to Princeton. He and Rory both graduated valedictorian. Rory headed to Yale._

Chapter 1

Rory Hayden was sitting in her dorm room at Yale that she shared with her best friend Stephanie Vanderbilt. They were both freshmen along with their friends Logan, Colin, Finn, Robert, Paris, Madeline and Louise. _Rory and Stephanie had been best friends since they were little. Stephanie had been there for Rory when she and Tristen had broken up after he decided to go to Princeton. Dynastic plans and all that. They all knew that their lives had been planned since their birth. Rory however was different. Rory's mom wasn't like the other Hartford moms, I mean after all she had Rory when she was a teenager. This being said, all of Rory's friends thought that her mom was the cool mom. When they were in high school, Lorelai was the one that they called when they was to skip school, or even if any of them were too drunk to drive. Lorelai was the one that Stephanie called the night that she found Rory on her front porch during a really bad snow storm. That also happened to be the night that Rory and Tristen broke up._

Rory was sitting in her room working on her Philosophy notes she heard a knock on her doorframe. She looked up to see her best friend and roommate. "Hey what's up? I thought you had a late class today." Rory said.

"It got cancelled. Listen, umm we were all talking about the Yale - Princeton game coming up." Steph said, causing Rory to glare at her. "Ror, don't look at me like that. It would be a good chance for you to talk to him."

"How do you even know that he's going to be at the game?" Rory asked.

"Because I just do." Steph said. "I'm going to meet Colin and Logan at the pub, you wanna come?"

Rory POV

I needed a break. "Yeah, let's go." I said standing up and following Steph out of the dorm. "You talked to him, didn't you?"

"He called. Sounded depressed. Asked about you." Steph said.

"He has no right. He's the one that broke up with me because he didn't want to do the whole long-distance thing." I said.

"He said that he wants to talk to you. He just doesn't think that you'll answer your phone." Steph said.

"I'll think about it." I said. As we walked to the pub, I couldn't help but wonder, _was he regretting our break up?_ I was pulled out of my thoughts when I almost walked into a door. When we walked into the pub it didn't take us long to find Logan and Colin. "Hey guys." I said as we approached the table.

"What's wrong Ror?" Logan asked me.

I glared at Steph. "Steph's been talking to Tristen." I told him.

"What?" Colin and Logan both said.

"You said that you were going to stay out of it." Colin said to Steph.

"What are you talking about Colin?" I asked. Silence. Oh my god! I couldn't believe this. I turned to Steph. "Why? Why would you do this?" I asked her.

"Because you both have been so sad, it's obvious that you miss each other." She said.

"I can't believe you." I said and turned and walked out of the pub. I headed back to the dorm. When I got to our hallway, I saw someone standing by our door. I guess they heard me coming because they turned around. _Tristen._ "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I didn't think that you would answer my phone calls." Tristen said.

"Your right, I probably wouldn't have." I said. "You still didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?" I said.

"I needed to talk to you." He said.

I unlocked my door. "Come in. I don't need everyone hearing our conversation." I told him. Once we were inside, I shut the door behind him. I walked over to the coffee pot and started it. Once I started it, I kicked my shoes off and walked over to it and sat down. "So…talk." I said.

Tristen walked over and sat on the other end of the couch. "I've been talking to Steph." I glared at him. "And…she's kinda made me see that maybe I overreacted to the idea of a long-distance relationship. Ror, I miss you. I miss you like crazy."

"Stop. Don't. You can't do this." I said. I stood up and started pacing around my common room.

"Why not? Steph said you're not dating anyone. C'mon Ror, you know that we're meant to be together."

"No. We were. Past tense. You ruined all of that when you said that you couldn't do a long distance relationship. I gotta go. Steph's at the pub." I said, putting my shoes back on, grabbing my keys and walking out the door.

I made the hour drive to my childhood home in Hartford. I couldn't believe this. Steph…my best friend, had gone behind my back and conspired with my ex-boyfriend to try and get us back together. When I pulled into the driveway, I saw that the lights were still on. Hopefully, my mom was still up. I walked into the house and made my way into the living room. "Hey mom." I said sitting on the couch across from her and my dad.

"Hey kid. Did we know you were coming home tonight?" Mom asked me.

I tossed my keys on to the coffee table. "No, it was spur of the moment." I said. I noticed that my parents gave each other a look. "What?"

"Nothing, kiddo. It's just that you don't usually come home spur of the moment…or on Thursday for that matter." My dad said.

I rolled my eyes. "I just had to get out of there for a while. Okay?"

"Sure sure." Mom said. The three of us sat there in silence for a few minutes. "So, are you going to the Princeton-Yale game?" Mom asked.

"Oh god. Not you too." I said.

"Rory, I think it would be good for you." Mom said.

"Would it also be good for me to go back to my dorm, where my ex-boyfriend is probably still waiting to finish a conversation about us breaking up?" I asked.

"Tristen's at your dorm?"

I nodded. "Yep. Apparently, him and Steph were talking about me and she told him how all I did was study."

"Oh kid."

"Yeah I know." I said, and noticed the look that Mom had. _It was the same look that she had that time when I told her that my period was late and that I might be pregnant. Thank god I wasn't._ "Fine, I'm going. I'll meet you at Grandma's for dinner tomorrow." I said grabbing my keys and heading back to school. When I got back to my dorm, I was right. Tristen was still sitting on my couch. "Your still here?" I asked.

"Yeah. I know you. You needed time to process. You probably went home too." Tristen said. He was right he did know me.

I walked over to the couch. "Tris, I know that you're looking for some kind of answer, but I don't have it. We broke up because you didn't want a long-distance relationship, so unless you're telling me that your transferring to Yale…I really don't see a different solution." I said. I walked over to the coffee pot and poured us each a cup of coffee. I walked back over and handed him his. I sat back on the couch.

"I'm not transferring." He said.

I nodded. "Listen, it's late. You can crash on the couch." I said, and he nodded. I stood up and started towards my room. "Just give it time Tris. The future has a way of working things out." I told him before walking into my room and shutting the door.

Logan POV

When Rory stormed out of the pub, I turned to Steph and glared at her. "What?" She asked.

"You. You said that you weren't going to get involved." I said.

"I know. But I couldn't help it. They were both so sad." She said.

"Steph! You just pissed off your best friend and roommate!" I said. I gave her a minute to let that sink in.

"Oh my god!" She said.

"There it is." Colin said, and I nodded.

"What have I done?" She asked.

"You need to go talk to her. You know what happened the last time that she froze any of us out." I said, remember when Rory froze Steph and James out for a month.

 _***FLASHBACK - 2 YEARS AGO…CHILTON HALLWAY***_

 _Rory and I were sitting in the cafeteria, waiting for the rest of our friends and her brother James. I couldn't help but notice that she looked sad. "Hey you okay?" I asked her._

 _"Not really. Tris and I broke up last night." She told me._

 _They had been together since freshman year. We all thought that they'd be together through high school and college and then they'd get married. "What happened?" I asked._

 _"He's going to Princeton. Doesn't wanna do the whole long-distance thing." She said. "I'm so stupid."_

 _"Ror, you're not stupid. C'mon. You'll be at Yale with all of us. I'm sure there's a guy out there that's perfect for you and that'll understand you and our life." I said. I wanted to tell her I had liked since before her and Tristen had started going out, but I couldn't. At least not the day after they had broken up. I would need to give her time. Time to get over him._

 _"Yeah I guess." She said, looking around the cafeteria. "Where is everyone?" She asked._

 _"I don't know, why don't we go find them?" I asked, and she nodded._

 _We walked out of the cafeteria and started down the hallway towards where our lockers were and saw a group of people standing in the middle of the hallway. We walked over to see what's going on._

 _"Have you lost your mind?" Paris asked Steph._

 _"It's not that big a deal." Steph said._

 _"She's not gonna see it that way." Mads said._

 _"I'm just gonna tell her." James joined in._

 _Rory pushed through the crowd. "Hey what happened to you guys? We waited for you." She said. Everyone got quiet. "Guys?"_

 _"Steph and I have been dating." James said._

 _"What?" Rory asked quietly._

 _"We've been dating."_

 _I could see Rory's face turning red. "How…long?" She asked._

 _"six months." Steph said._

 _She turned to James. "I can't believe you." Rory said. "I need to get out of here." She said and pushed past her brother. I didn't stick around. I followed Rory. She didn't need to be alone right now._

 _I followed her out to the parking lot, where she was getting into her Mustang that her parents had gotten her for her birthday. "Rory." I said._

 _"I can't be here right now." She said._

 _"Okay, well I don't think that you should be alone right now." I said._

 _"Well, you coming or not?" She asked, and I climbed into her car. Rory drove out of the parking lot. I wasn't sure where she was going. She just kept driving._

 _"Where are we going?" I asked after about ten minutes._

 _"I don't really know. I just know that I couldn't stick around. I mean why would James do this to me? She's my best friend. Why couldn't he have dated Summer or even Paris. Why Steph?" She ranted._

 _"I don't know, Ror. Why do any of us like the people that I do? I guess he probably felt the same way when you started dating Tristen, didn't he?" I said._

 _Rory laughed. "No, James hates Tristen. He does think of you as his best friend though." She said._

 _Really? I found this hard to believe. I mean, yeah, James and I had been close in middle school but not so much in high school, especially since we all had started dating. "So now what?" I asked Rory as she pulled into the parking lot of China Garden._

 _"Now? I don't know. I mean, it's done. I just need some space. From them, from Tristen." She said._

 _"From me?" I asked._

 _She looked at me and smiled. "You? Never."_

 _She froze them out for three weeks. The only reason that she even started talking to them again was because we all made plans together for prom._

 _***END FLASHBACK***_

When I left the pub, I headed towards my dorm room that I shared with Colin. It was highly likely that he had Louise there. They had been almost inseparable since they started dating just before school started. I was almost to my dorm when my cell rang. I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I smiled when I saw that it was Rory. I answered. "Hey." I said.

"Hey, are you still at the pub?" She asked.

"No, I was almost to my dorm. You okay?" I said.

"I don't know. Can you come over?"

"Sure. It'll take me like five minutes."

"Okay. Come to my window." She said.

"Alright. See you soon." I said and hung up. There was only two reasons that Rory would ask me to come to her window. One: Steph had company or Two: Tristen was there and she didn't want him to see me.

I made my way over to her dorm and went around to the side where her window was. She already had it open. I climbed in. "Hey." I said, as I closed the window behind me.

She was sitting at her desk. I walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. She turned and looked at me. "Hey." She said.

"So, what's up?" I asked.

"Okay, so I get back from the pub and guess who's standing outside my door." She says.

"Let me guess…Tristen?"

"Yep. Said that he drove out her to talk to me."

"About what?" I really hoped that he hadn't come to try and win her back.

"Apparently, he wants to get back together." She said.

"Wow."

"Yeah. So, I ended up storming out and driving home to talk to my mom."

"So, what're you gonna do."

"I'm not getting back together with him. I've been trying to move on and get over him. You know that." She said.

"Yeah. Just making sure." I said.

She smiled at me. "So, how was your day?" She asked.

"It was okay. I walked into the daily news earlier and my father was there." I told her.

"Why?" She asked and then saw the look on my face. "Wait. Never mind, it's Mitchum. There is no reason." She said.

"Exactly. So, he told me that my Mom's hosting a gala for the garden society and my presence is mandatory." I said.

"Wow. Need a date? You know that your mom loves me." She said.

Hmm. That was a thought. It could actually be what I needed to tell Rory how I felt about her. "Sure. You have a dress?" I asked.

"No, but I have my black card. When is it?" She said.

"Saturday night." I said.

I hung out with Rory for a little while and she even had me look at her philosophy paper that was due the next day. When I left Rory's, I headed to my dorm. I needed to call my mom and let her know that Rory would be coming with me to the gala. This had to be a good thing, right? Rory had never actually volunteered to go with me to a party.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Rory POV

The next day, the day seemed to pass pretty quickly. After my classes, I stopped to get a coffee before heading to my dorm to get ready for Friday night dinner. Growing up, it was the one thing that my Grandmother insisted upon. She said that it kept the family close. Tristen had been gone before I got up that morning. Hopefully, I wouldn't hear from him anytime soon. When I walked into my dorm, Steph was sitting on the couch. "Can we talk?" She asked.

"I don't have anything to say." I said, walking straight to my room. I pulled out a fitted black dress with thin straps. I threw it on real quick and grabbed my black stilettos and my black flip flops. I walked back into the common room.

"Please Ror." She said.

"I can't right now Steph. Do you realize that this is almost as bad as the James situation?" I said. I threw my flip flops on and with heels in hand I left. I couldn't deal with Steph right now. I had other things on my mind. I headed out to the parking lot and got in my car. I headed towards Hartford. Maybe James would come home this weekend and Grandma would question him all night instead of me.

When I pulled into Grandma's driveway, I saw Mom's car and I saw James' car. James was leaning against his car, as if he was waiting for me. I opened my door and put my heels on before grabbing my keys and getting out. "Wow. Nice dress." He said.

"Yeah well, it's been a crappy week." I said walking towards him. "Dude, what happened to you calling me Wednesday?" I asked him as we walked towards the front door.

"Sorry, Chemistry class ran late." He said.

"Yeah well at least your ex wasn't standing at your door when you came home last night." I told him as I pressed the doorbell.

"Ouch." James said.

"Yeah. Coffee after dinner and I'll tell you about it."

"Sounds good." James said right as the maid opened the door.

We made our way into the living room where everyone was waiting for us. "You guys came together?" Grandma asked us.

"Nope, just perfect timing." I said, joining mom on the couch.

"James, darling. How are you? How's school?" Grandma asked. _Grandma refused to mention the name Princeton because the Gilmore's were Eli's._

"It's good Grandma. Keeps me busy." James said. Sitting beside Grandma.

"Well it's good to have you here this weekend. I assume that you'll be at the gala tomorrow night." Grandma asked him.

"Yeah, Honor's making me go." He said.

"You're going with Honor?" I asked.

"Yeah. Why? Who're you going with?" He asked me.

"Logan." I said.

Logan POV

I decided to bite the bullet and call Mom and tell her that I was bringing Rory. I pulled out my phone and dialed the familiar number. "Hello?"

"Hi mom." I said.

"Logan. This is a surprise. I didn't expect to hear from you until the party tomorrow." She said.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm bringing a date to the party tomorrow." I told her.

"Really? Anyone I know?" She asked, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, mom it's Rory." I said.

"Oh, that's wonderful. Honor told me a little while ago that she's coming with James." Mom said.

"James? James Hayden?" I asked.

"Yep. I'll see you tomorrow darling." Mom said and hung up. I couldn't believe this. James and my sister?

Rory POV

"You can't be serious?" I asked James as we were sitting in our favorite coffee shop.

"She called me and said that she needed a date. Her and Josh broke up." James said.

"Wow."

"Yeah. Now what happened with Tristen?" James asked.

"Steph went behind my back and called him. Told him that I wasn't seeing anybody and that I was sad. Next thing I know, I come home from the pub, and he's standing in my hallway. Don't you two talk?" I said.

"Not so much since I saw him on campus and I punched him." James said, and I laughed.

"Why did you punch him?"

"For breaking your heart." James told me as I took a drink of my coffee.

"Thanks." I said with a smile. He smiled back. "Now, what's really going on with you and Honor?" I asked.

"She's gonna kill me." He said and let out a sigh. "Honor and I have been dating off and on for three years."

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yeah. That's why Mitchum and Shira love us." James said.

"Wow. You know that Logan's gonna kill you when he finds out right?" I asked.

"He wouldn't, would he?" James asked.

"Let me talk to him." I said.

When I got back to Yale, I headed towards Logan's dorm instead of mine. I wanted to talk to him not only about Honor and James, but I wanted to tell him that they were going to the gala together so that he wasn't surprised. When I got to his dorm I knocked. It didn't take him long to answer the door. "Hey." He said when he opened the door.

"Hey. Can we talk?" I said.

"Yeah, sure come in." He said and let me in. He shut the door behind me. "How was dinner?" He asked.

"Eventful. Got coffee with James afterwards to catch up." I told him.

"That's a nice dress." Logan said.

"Thanks. Just something I threw on." I told him. "So, umm…I wanted you to hear it from me. I found something out tonight. James is going with Honor to the gala." I said.

"Yeah, I know. My mom told me when I called to tell her that you were coming with me." He said.

"Oh ok." I said walking over to the couch and sitting down. He walked over and joined me. I looked at him. "Are you okay?" I asked him after a while.

"I'm not sure. Did you figure things out with Tristen?" He asked me. _Why did he want to know about Tristen?_

"He was gone before I got up this morning. But it doesn't matter because I told him that we weren't getting back together." I said. "Why?"

"Just curious, I guess." Logan said. I could tell that he wanted to say more but I didn't want to push the issue.

"I should go." I said.

I stood up and started towards the door. "Ror, wait." Logan said, stopping me. He made his way to me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You and Tristen are really over?" He asked.

"Yes. We have been since we broke up. What's the sudden interest in my non-existent relationship with Tristen?" I asked.

Before I knew what was happening, Logan had pushed me against the door and kissed me. It took me a minute to realize what was happening and I kissed him back. He only pulled back when neither one of us could breathe. I looked up into his eyes. "What. Was. That." I said in between breaths.

"Don't freak out. Okay? I've liked you since before you and Tristen dated. I wanted to tell you the day that you found out about James and Steph…but you guys had just broken up the night before. I figured that you needed some time." Logan said.

"Two years? You've liked me for two years and the way that you tell me is by kissing me?" I said.

"Yes." He said.

Wow. This was big. I had liked Logan for a while. But part of me just thought that maybe it was because he had been such a good friend. I didn't think that he actually liked me. "So, now what?" I asked.

"I wanna take you out on a real date?" Logan said.

"Really?" I asked him. "So, what is this your way of asking me to be your girlfriend?"

He leaned closer to me. "Maybe. What if it was?" He said.

"Well then, I'm gonna need an official question."

"Rory, would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?" He asked.

I couldn't help but smile. "Sure thing, boyfriend." I said, as I leaned up and kissed him. "See you tomorrow." I said before walking out of his dorm. I walked the five minutes back to my dorm. When I walked through the door Steph was where I had left her. "Hey." I said when I walked in.

She looked up at me. "Hey. You look happy." She said.

"I am." I said as I walked over to the couch, sat down and began to take off my heels. "Look, I'm not mad at you. I understand why you did what you did, but Steph…Tris and I aren't getting back together." I told her, and she nodded. "But I do have something else to tell you and you can be the first person to know." I said.

"What?" She asked.

"Logan kissed me." I told her.

The next morning, Steph and I got up and headed over to State Street so that we could find dresses for the gala. Steph was going with Robert. "So, he's liked you for two years?" Steph asked me as we got out of my car and made our way to the store.

"Yeah. He said that he had wanted to tell me the day after Tris and I broke up, but I thought that I needed some time to get over Tris." I told her.

"Well, two years is definitely enough time." Steph said. I noticed that she was looking across the street. I looked where she was looking and saw James and Honor sitting at a table. "What's going on there?" She asked me.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." I said, and we walked in the store.

After three hours of shopping, Steph and I both found dresses. Once we had our dresses for the night, we made our way back to campus. Steph and I took our time getting ready. At ten till six, I heard a knock at the door. I walked out of my room and went to open it. Logan was standing there with a single red rose. "Wow." He said. "You look amazing."

"Thank you. It's not the first time that you've seen me in a party dress." I told him. _My dress was beautiful. It was burgundy and sparkly. The straps came up around my neck like a halter top. Even my shoes matched my dress._

"No but this dress is different. You usually wear a cocktail dress or a ball gown." He said.

I smiled at him. "Thought I'd mix it up a little bit." I said.

Logan nodded. "Ready to go?" He asked, and I nodded.

The party was being hosted at Mitchum and Shira's house. We showed up a little early. When Shira hosted a party, she always liked for her children to be early. When we walked into the house, Shira was the first one that we found. "Logan, Rory." She said.

"Yeah, we're here Mom." Logan said.

"I love your dress Shira. It's very pretty." I said.

"Oh, Rory. Your too kind. You, however, look absolutely stunning." Shira said.

"Thank you." I said.

Shira walked off. She mumbled something about needing to talk to the caterer. Logan put his hand on the small of my back and led us over to the bar. "She's right you know." Logan said.

"About what?" I asked.

"You look stunning." He said.

"Why thank you." I said.

About half an hour into the party, Logan was getting us some drinks when I got cornered by my mom. "Hey kid." She said.

"Hey Mom." I said. "I didn't know that you and Dad were coming?" I asked her.

"Yeah he's over there getting drinks and talking to Logan. You two seem really close tonight." Mom said.

"Mom…"

"Rory…"

"What do you want to know?" I asked.

"What's going on there?" She asked.

"You know what's great about our relationship? You don't press issues like Grandma does." I said.

"Come on Rory. Your brother won't tell me anything either." Mom said.

I glared at her as I saw my Dad and Logan walking toward us. "Hi Dad." I said.

"Hey kiddo. How much of a dent did you put in my credit card?" He said.

"Not as much as when mom goes shopping for Jimmy Choo's." I said.

"Hey!" Mom said.

"Sorry honey, but it's true. Between you and Rory, she's the smart shopper." Dad said.

"Thanks Dad." I said, as I felt Logan's hand on the small of my back again. I turned to Logan. "Can we go yet?" I asked.

"I'll go asked Mom." He said, and I smiled.

Once Logan was out of earshot, Mom turned back to me. "How long?" She asked me, earning an eye roll from Dad.

"What?" I asked.

"How long have you and Logan been together?" She asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said.

"Rory Hayden, don't you dare lie to me. I've been watching you all night. You have the same look on your face that you did when you and Bible Boy started dating." Mom said.

"Lor, leave her alone." Dad said.

"Ugh, fine. He asked me last night. Happy?" I said.

"Ha! I knew it." She turned to Dad. "You owe me a new car." Mom said.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Sorry kid." Mom said.

Logan walked back over and joined us. "Mom said we can take off." Logan said, noticing that I was glaring at Mom. "What'd I miss?" He asked.

"They know." I said.

"Huh." Logan said, looking at my Dad.

"I would keep this from your grandparents, Ror. You know what'll happen." Dad said.

After three hours at the gala, Logan and I finally made it back to Yale. "So, that was an interesting night." I said as we approached my dorm.

"I don't know if interesting describes it." Logan said.

"Well at least you didn't hit him. My brother can be quite the smartass, when given the opportunity." I said.

"I just didn't expect to find them making out in the pool house. Well apparently,, you and Honor are more alike than you thought." I said.

"Yeah, I guess. I had hoped to use the pool house to get away from my family. And now Honor and James. Just not what I expected." Logan said, as I unlocked my door.

"I know, but Honor's a big girl. She can take care of herself." I told him. "But did you see the look on James' face when he realized that we were together."

"Oh, I know. It was incredible." Logan said.

I sat on the armrest of the couch and took my heels off. "Much better." I said, and then proceeded to walk over to the coffee pot and started it.

I walked back to the couch. Logan sat at the other end, pulling my feet into his lap. "Feet hurt?" He asked.

"Hell yes." I said. He started massaging them. "Oh, now you've started something."

"Yeah well you deserve it. You were incredible tonight." He said.

"Well, I am the Hayden Heiress after all."

"And I'm a lucky guy." He said. I couldn't help the smile on my face.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Logan POV

After I left Rory's, I headed back to my dorm. When I walked in, I was surprised to see Colin sitting on the couch. "Hey man." I said, closing the door behind me.

"Hey, your back early. I figured your mom wouldn't let you leave until at least 12." Colin said.

"Yeah, I told her that Rory was tired, so she let us leave early." I said.

"What's going on there? You guys have been spending a lot of together since the beginning of school."

"I kissed her." I told Colin. "Then I asked her to be my girlfriend." I saw a shocked look on Colin's face. "And then I walked in on my sister making out with James." I told him.

"I'm sorry…back up. You kissed Rory." He said, and I nodded. "Asked her to be your girlfriend." I nodded again. "Honor and James?" I nodded a third time. "Wow." He said.

"I know. It's a lot to take in." I told him.

"You could say that."

"Where's Louise?" I asked.

"Mads called. Apparently, her and Finn got into a fight." Colin said.

"Go figure."

Rory POV

When I woke up the next morning, I was happy. Logan and I were together, and everything felt right in the world. I got up and decided to throw my sweats on. I threw my flip flops on and walked over to the coffee cart to get a cup of coffee. Since I had been busy all weekend, I was going to spend the day studying. When I got back to the dorm, Steph was sitting on the couch with a box of tissues. "Hey, what's wrong?" I asked her, walking over and sitting on the couch.

"Is it true? James and Honor?" She asked me.

 _Crap._ "Yeah, it is. They've been dating off and on for three years." I told her.

"Seriously? So, when he wasn't dating her, he was dating me."

"Apparently so sweetie." I told her. I hated that my brother did this to her.

All of a sudden there was a loud banging on our door. "Steph! Let me in!" I heard my brother yelling on the other side.

I turned to Steph. "What did you do?" I asked.

She looked down. "Nothing." She said.

I walked over to the door and opened it. "Hi Ror." He said and then noticed Steph. "Have you completely lost your mind?" He asked her.

She stood up. "YOU LIED TO ME. YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU AND HONOR WERE DONE." Steph yelled.

I pulled my phone out and quickly sent a text to Logan.

 _R: GET OVER HERE NOW! 911!_

"At the time we were." James said.

"That's why there's pictures of you and her all over page six." Steph said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Answer me this…were you seeing her while we were together?" Steph asked him.

Just then the door opened, and Logan walked in. "What's going on?" He asked me.

"Steph found out about James and Honor. She just asked him if he was seeing both of them at the same time." I told him.

"Steph…don't start this." James said.

"You didn't answer the question. I wanna know." She said.

"I'd kinda like to know myself." Logan said.

When Logan spoke up, it got James' attention. "When'd you get here? Why are you here?"

"Rory texted me. Answer the question?" Logan asked.

"No. I was not seeing both of you at the same time." James said.

"James, you gotta understand why Steph's upset about this right?" I asked.

"Yeah I do." He said sadly.

"Just go." Steph said.

James walked over to where Logan and I were standing. He looked at us. "You gotta know, I would never intentionally do anything to hurt either one of them." He said. Logan nodded.

"You headed back to school?" I asked him as I followed him out to the hallway.

"Yeah. I gotta study a little bit before my early class in the morning." He said, and I nodded.

I could see the look on his face. "Take care of yourself." I told him.

"You too." He said, and I walked back into my dorm.

The next couple of days were strange. Steph didn't say a whole lot. She went to class and then came home and locked herself in her dorm. I was sitting in my room working on some homework when my cell rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Grandpa Straub calling me. I quickly answered, I wasn't in the mood for a lecture. "Hi Grandpa." I said.

"Hello dear. How's school?" He asked.

"Hard and busy, but good." I said, as I sat back in my chair.

"That's good dear. Listen, your grandmother thinks that it's been enough time since you and Tristen broke up and that it's time for you to date again." Grandpa said, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Grandpa, tell her that I have started seeing someone but that it's new and I'm not ready to introduce him to the family." I told him, not wanting Grandma to start planning a wedding.

"I will do that dear. But just between me and you…who is it?" He asked.

Grandpa and I had always been close. "It's Logan, Grandpa." I told him.

"Really? I never would have pictured that." He said.

"Kinda surprised me too, Grandpa."

"Well then, I'll keep it to myself. I won't keep you." Grandpa said and hung up.

After I hung up with Grandpa, I looked at the picture that sat on my desk. It was a picture from my high school graduation. It was of me and Grandpa. That was also the day that he had told me that I was the Hayden Heiress. I had always thought that James would have gotten both family businesses, but Grandpa said that he was confident that I would make him proud. I sat there and thought about Grad night when I had told Logan about it.

 _***FLASHBACK - GRAD NIGHT***_

 _Logan and I were sitting on a couple of lounge chairs on the yacht, he had just told me that he, Colin and Finn were going sailing for the summer. "Grandpa told me something today after graduation." I said._

 _"What's that?" He asked._

 _"That he's named me the Hayden Heiress." I said._

 _"Seriously?" I nodded. "Wow, you a lawyer." He said._

 _"Not really sure how I feel about it." I said._

 _"Well, honestly, how do any of us feel about our family destinies." He said. "I'm not exactly thrilled that I'm the heir to a media empire." He told me._

 _I remembered waking up the next morning and looking at the headline in the Hartford Currant. "RORY HAYDEN: HEIRESS TO HAYDEN LAW"_

 _It was like a panic attack waiting to happen._

 _***END FLASHBACK***_

I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of my phone ringing again. I answered it without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?" I said.

"Hey." It was Logan.

"Hey you. What's up?" I said.

"Umm…we have a problem." Logan said.

Logan POV

Colin and I had been sitting in the dorm playing Xbox when my phone rang. I looked at my phone and saw that it was Honor. I answered it. "Hey Hon, what's up?" I asked, balancing my phone between my ear and my shoulder while I played.

"Umm, Mom and Dad found out that James and I are back together and they've invited him for dinner." Honor said.

"Okay, what does that have to do with me?" I asked.

"I need you to come. Bring Rory if you have to."

"I don't know."

"Logan Elias Huntzberger if you don't do this for me, I will tell mom, dad and Grandpa that you and Rory are dating." Honor said.

"How did you even know about that?" I asked her.

"Because I'm not stupid. Listen, just think about it and talk to Rory, please. I need you here for this. When mom called me, she sounded like she was smoking again." Honor said.

I paused the game and sat the controller down. I ran my hand through my hair. I let out a sigh. "I'll talk to Rory." I said. After hanging up with Honor, I told Colin that I'd be back. I walked into my room and called Rory.

"Hello?" She said when she answered.

"Hey." I said.

"Hey you. What's up?" She said.

"Umm…We have a problem." I told her.

"What do you mean we have a problem?" She asked. "What kind of problem?"

"Honor called me. Said that my parents found out that her and James were back together, and they invited him for dinner. She wants me to come for moral support, I guess. She's completely freaking out about it. Told me to bring you." I told her.

"Did you tell her about us?" She asked me.

"No but she somehow knew. When I asked her about it, she said because she's not stupid." I said.

"Well it is Honor." Rory said.

"Yeah, anyway, what do you think?"

I heard her let out a sigh. "For Honor and James, sure."

"Really?" I asked, surprisingly.

"Yeah, I mean no matter how much I want to stay in this little bubble that we've been in…our families are eventually gonna find out. In fact, Grandpa Straub called me earlier. Apparently, Grandma wants me to date. So, Grandpa knows about us but he promised not to tell Grandma yet. When's the dinner?" She said.

"Tonight." I said.

"Okay. I can be ready by five." She told me.

"Great. I'll see you then." I said and hung up.

I quickly sent Honor a text.

 _L: You owe me!_

 _H: Thank you!_

I showered and got ready for dinner with my parents. I hated having dinner with my parents. We weren't a normal family. We didn't spend time with each other…except for me and Honor. She was the only reason that I was doing this. Once I was ready, I headed over to Rory's dorm to pick her up. The ride to Hartford was quiet. Hopefully, my parents wouldn't find out about me and Rory tonight, but I wasn't holding my breath. They hadn't liked any girl that I dated, but Rory was different. She was blue blood. She was the heiress to Hayden Law. Maybe they would feel different this time.

When we pulled into my parent's driveway, I looked at Rory. She smiled at me. "It's going to be fine." She said.

"I hope so. Let's go." I said. We got out of the car and walked up to the front door. I took a deep breath before I reached for the doorknob and opened it. We walked in and the maid greeted us. Rory handed her, her coat. I grabbed Rory's hand and we walked toward the living room. It was quiet. Too quiet. "Hello everyone." I said, leading Rory to the couch across from Honor and James.

"Logan, Rory. Hello dear." Mom said. "Your late."

"I'm pretty sure dad's not here either." I said.

"You know your father." Mom said.

Grandpa was sitting there shaking his ice around in his cup. "Grandpa, can I refill your glass?" I asked him. He lifted it up. I walked over and grabbed his glass from him. I refilled his glass and handed it back to him.

"Excuse me." Mom said, getting up and walking around the corner. Honor made a smoking gesture with her hand.

I leaned over to Rory. "Mom's smoking again." I whispered, and she nodded.

A minute later, Mom walked back in. "Your father's running late. He said to start without him." Mom said, meaning for us all to move to the dining room.

"This is weird right?" I heard James whisper.

"Nope this is normal in the Huntzberger house." I told him.

We all walked into the dining room and sat down. After the salad was served, Grandpa decided to speak. "I think that we need to discuss the elephant in the room." Grandpa said.

"Dad…we should wait for Mitchum." Mom said.

"No." Grandpa said.

"I don't understand the problem. Three years ago, nobody had a problem with me dating James." Honor said.

"It isn't about that." Mom followed.

"Then what's the problem." I said.

"I don't think that you've thought about this Logan." Mom said, causing me to whip my head towards her.

"What? Me? What did I do?" I asked.

"She's the heiress to a multi-billion-dollar law firm. I'm sure her family has standards." Mom said. "You need someone that be by your side that's not going to work 80 hours a week."

"You can't be serious." I said.

"Excuse me. I'm just gonna go." Rory said getting up from the table.

"Mom, what the hell are you talking about? Rory and I just started dating. Nobody has said anything about marriage." I said as I heard the front door slam. "You know what I'm not doing this." I said as I stood up from the table. I looked at Honor and she gave me an apologetic smile.

"We're not finished, Logan." Grandpa said.

"Yeah, we are." I said walking out of the dining room toward the front door. I walked right out the front door. I looked around for Rory. I finally saw her walking down the driveway. I ran after her. "Rory!" I said.

She stopped and turned around. I ran down the driveway to catch up with her. "Where are you going?" I asked her.

"I'm going to see my Grandpa. Logan, it's obvious that your family will support your sister's relationship with my brother but not your relationship with me." She said.

"I'm sorry about my family. I don't need their support. I just need you." I told her.

"I just…"

"Don't do this Rory."

"I just need some time…to think." She said. "I'll see you." She said, before she turned around and kept walking. I walked back up the driveway to get my car. I wasn't going to let her walk away. I had spent so much time waiting for her to be over Tristen. I wasn't going to let her go. I got in my car and drove around the corner to her grandparents' house. I walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. I was surprised when she was the one that opened the door.

"Logan…what are you doing here?" She asked me.

"Ror, when I asked you to be my girlfriend, I told you that I had liked you for two years…but there's more to that. Over the last few months, we've grown closer. And to be honest my feelings for you scare me. I've fallen in love with you, Rory. I don't care what my parents or my grandpa say…they won't convince me that it's best for me to walk away from you. It won't happen. I love you Rory Hayden…you're the best thing that's ever happened to me." I told her.

I saw her smiling. "I love you too, Logan." She said, and I grabbed her and kissed her.

Rory POV

"Excuse me, I should go." I said standing up from the table and making my way through the living room to the front door. I grabbed my coat and walked out the front door slamming it. I pulled my phone out of my coat pocket and called Grandpa.

"Rory dear, what's wrong?" He asked, he could always tell when I was upset.

"Logan and I were at dinner with his sister and James at his parents' house, and let's just say it didn't go to well. Can I come over?" I said.

"Of course, dear. You know that you don't have to ask." Grandpa said.

"Thanks." I said and hung up. I started walking down the driveway. I just wanted to get away as fast as possible. I was almost to the bottom of the driveway when I heard Logan calling my name. I turned around.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I'm going to see my Grandpa. Logan, it's obvious that your family will support your sister's relationship with my brother but not your relationship with me." I said.

"I'm sorry about my family. I don't need their support. I just need you."

"I just…"

"Don't do this Rory."

"I just need some time…to think." I said. "I'll see you." I turned back around and kept walking the driveway. I turned the corner and walked to the next driveway which was my Grandparents. When I got into the house, Grandpa was waiting for me in the living room, with a cup of coffee. I sat down beside him and took a drink of my coffee. "Thanks Grandpa."

"Your welcome dear. Now what happened?" He asked me.

"They think that I'm too good for him." I told him. "They support James relationship with Honor, but they don't support my relationship with Logan." I said just as I heard the doorbell.

"I think that might be for you." Grandpa said, and I went to answer the door.

I opened the door. "Logan…what are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Ror, when I asked you to be my girlfriend, I told you that I had liked you for two years…but there's more to that. Over the last few months, we've grown closer. And to be honest my feelings for you scare me. I've fallen in love with you, Rory. I don't care what my parents or my grandpa say…they won't convince me that it's best for me to walk away from you. It won't happen. I love you Rory Hayden…you're the best thing that's ever happened to me." He told me.

I smiled. "I love you too, Logan."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey guys! Yes I know. I said that I was only going to be working on one story at a time, but I had a couple of stories that I had been working on that I hadn't posted so I thought that I'd give you guys a late Christmas present. Glad that you guys are enjoying this story just like you guys do all of my stories. My kids are leaving to today for the next week and my boyfriend is heading out to Indiana for work. So, I should be able to get you guys a bunch of stuff this week. I'm also working with Ashmo2000 on our story "It's all my fault". It's hard to believe that we've had that story going for over a year. Anyway, here's chapter 4. Don't forget to read, review and favorite. I love reading the reviews you guys write.

Chapter 4

Rory POV

Ever since the dinner with Logan's parents, Logan had been avoiding them. I had just gotten a coffee from the coffee cart outside my building, and I was heading towards my dorm when my cell started ringing. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw that it was James calling me. "Hey." I said, answering my phone.

"Hey, so I haven't heard from you since…" James said trailing off.

"Yeah, well, things have been crazy." I told him.

"Sure. So, um, Honor wanted me to ask you if you could meet her for lunch tomorrow. She said that she'd meet you anywhere you wanted." James said.

I let out a sigh. "I don't know." I said, walking down the hallway to my dorm. "James, I'm not gonna lie. I'm not exactly happy with you right now. I mean, you sat there at dinner the other night and let Shira say what she wanted about me. You didn't even follow me when I walked out." I told him, as I unlocked my door and walked in. I walked to my room.

"I know and I'm sorry. I'm not sure how to handle this situation. I mean, your my sister and your dating one of my best friends." James said.

"And when you dated one of my best friends, even though I froze you out for three weeks, I still stood by you. This isn't much different from that. James, you are at some point going to have to make a choice. I just hope that whatever choice you make is the right one." I said and hung up. _I couldn't believe my brother. I mean, sure…when he and Steph were dating it was hard for me, mainly because Steph is my best friend…but I eventually came around to the idea…just in time for him to break up with Steph for…Honor._

I spent majority of the afternoon studying. I was still studying when I heard the front door open and close. I figured it was Steph. "Hey so I was thinking that maybe we should go to the pub and unwind tonight. What do you think?" I said as I stood up and walked into the common room. The problem was it wasn't Steph, only it was Tristen. "Oh. Sorry I thought that you were Steph." I said.

"It's okay." He said.

"What're you doing here?" I asked.

"Umm…Steph told me that I could wait here. Her class ran late and then she needed to talk to her professor." Tristen said.

"Wait here?" I asked. After a minute, it hit me. "You and Steph?" I asked him. No response. I stood there and just stared at him.

After a few minutes of staring at him, the door opened again, and this time Logan walked in. He looked surprised when he noticed Tristen standing in front of me. "Hey…what's going on?" Logan asked.

"Umm…Tristen's waiting for Steph." I said.

"Oh ok." Logan said.

"Her room's there." I said, pointing to Steph's room. I turned around and walked to my room slamming the door behind me. How could Steph do this to me? She's supposed to be my best friend. First my brother and now…Tristen.

Logan POV

I stood there and watched Rory walk into her room and slam the door. I turned back and looked at Tristen. "You know that she's hurt, right?" I asked him.

He nodded. "I know. Steph was supposed to be here to tell her. She wasn't supposed to find out like this." Tristen said.

"Why'd you really break up with her?" I asked him.

He was staring at Rory's door. "Because she deserves better than me. She deserves someone that can give her the world." Tristen said. "No matter how bad she's hurting right now, she'll have you to pick up the pieces…you always do."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, that no matter what fight Rory and I got into you were always there to pick her back up. I'm sure you were probably the one to pick her up when we broke up." Tristen said.

"Actually, that was me." Tristen turned around and we both looked at the doorway where Steph was now standing. "Where is she?" Steph asked me.

"In her room. She's hurt Steph." I said, and she nodded.

She walked past the both of us and over to Rory's door. She turned back to us. "You two…couch…sit." Steph said.

We did as she said. We both sat on the couch as we heard Steph open Rory's door, walk in and close it. "Now what?" Tristen asked.

"Now…Now we wait." I said, knowing that this could take a while.

Rory POV

I was laying on my bed when my door opened. I figured that it would be Logan coming to check on me but instead it was Steph. "Get out." I said as Steph closed the door.

"Rory, please. Let me explain." Steph said.

"You want to explain how you've been moping around here for days and then today my ex-boyfriend shows up and tells me that the two of you are together. I'd love to hear this." I said.

"It's complicated." Steph said.

"I have time. Try."

Steph let out a sigh and nodded. She sat at the foot of my bed. "Mads heard that there was this kickass party at Princeton. So, me, her, and Louise went. I was about three drinks in, when Tristen found me. I was sitting on the front steps of the Frat house, crying my eyes out once again over James when he came up to me." Steph said, and I nodded. "He sat down beside me and asked why I was crying at a party. I told him about James and Honor. He said that I didn't need to cry over a guy that obviously didn't want me."

"Yeah, he used that line on me when Dean and I broke up." I told Steph.

"After that the rest of the night was a blur. I was pretty wasted. The next morning, I woke up and I was in his bed. After waking up and drinking a cup of coffee, Tristen told me that I was so wasted that he didn't want me driving." Steph said.

"Okay, that explains the beginning but that doesn't explain today." I said.

"For the next two days after the party, Tristen called me several times a day, but I wouldn't answer his calls. On the third day, I came home to find Tristen waiting for me outside our door. He said that we needed to talk. Tristen and I spent two hours talking that day. He told me that he enjoyed the time that we talked and hung out at the party. He asked me out. I told him that you would be hurt and feel betrayed by this and that I needed to be the one to tell you." Steph said, and I nodded. "Look, I know that this is weird and I'm sorry…but Ror, I think that I really like him, and you're my best friend. So, I need you to try and be okay with this."

I could tell that Steph was trying to be sincere about it all. I let out a sigh. "The only thing that I ask is when he's going to be here give me a heads up and I'll stay at Logan's. I want you to be happy, Steph. I just…I'm not ready to be around him yet. You can understand that, right?" I said.

Steph nodded. "Yeah I can." She said.

"Is he staying tonight?" I asked her, and she nodded. "Okay. Is Logan still out there?"

"Yeah, I'll go get him." Steph said and went out to the common room.

I got up from my bed, walked over to my closet and grabbed my duffel bag. I started sticking some clothes into the bag. A few minutes later, Logan walked in. "Hey, what ya doing?" Logan asked me.

"Umm…can I stay with you tonight?" I asked.

He walked over and grabbed my hand and pulled me to him. I looked up at him. "Of course. You don't have to ask, you know that." Logan said.

"Thanks. Steph and I talked. I'm going to try and be okay with her and Tris being together, but I told her that if he's going to stay here then I need her to tell me so that I can stay with you. I just I can't really be around him right now." I told him.

"That's understandable. There's still a lot of hurt there." Logan said. "What do you say, we go to the pub tonight?"

"Sounds good. It's been a crappy day. First my brother then I came home to this." I said.

Logan sat on my bed. "What happened with James?" He asked me.

"Honor got him to call me to see if I would have lunch with her tomorrow." I said, grabbing more clothes and sticking them in the bag.

"Why?" He asked.

"I don't know. I kinda laid into him about how he didn't even try to stick up for me at dinner the other night nor did he follow me to make sure that I was okay when I walked out. Needless to say, I'm not too happy with him right now. And I know that Honor's your sister, but I just need some distance from them right now." I said.

"I get it, I do. And I'll talk to Honor." He said, and I nodded. "I'm gonna go talk to Colin. Come over when you're done." Logan said, standing up and kissing my cheek.

"Okay, thanks." I said. Logan turned towards my door and headed out.

 _Things were changing. I was finding myself depending less on my brother and more on Logan and my friends. Even though Logan was avoiding his parents, he had been a real trooper today, trying to help me deal with the Tristen mess. I can't say that I'm surprised that Steph and Tristen ended up together. I just didn't expect to see him. My birthday was coming up and all I wanted to do was go to my family's house in the Hampton's and relax…well at least after the party that my grandmother was no doubt throwing me. Guess it was time to tell my family that Logan and I were dating._


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey guys! I know that it's been awhile. Things happen. There was school, kids and I have my own business. But I'm back and here's a new chapter. I hope that you guys like it. Don't forget to read review and Favorite!

Enjoy!

Chapter 5

Rory POV

Two days later, I was sitting on the couch in Logan and Colin's dorm because Tristen was still at mine with Stephanie. I was working on some research for a paper that I had due at the end of the week, when there was a knock at the door. I sat my laptop on the coffee table and went to answer the door. When I opened the door, Honor was standing in the doorway. "Honor, hi." I said.

"Rory. I was looking for Logan." She said.

"He's at the paper. He stays late on Mondays." I told her.

Honor nodded. "Right." She said.

There was an awkward silence. "Do you want to come in and wait for him?" I asked.

She nodded and I opened the door so she could come in. I walked back over to the couch where I had been sitting and continued my research. "Rory, I'm sorry about the dinner with my parents." She said.

"I'm gonna call Logan and see how long he's gonna be." I said grabbing my cell and calling him. It didn't take long for him to answer.

"Hey, sorry. I know I'm running late." He said.

"Umm, you need to come home." I said.

"My parents?"

"Nope. Wanna guess again?"

"Honor?" He asked.

"Ding ding ding… you're a winner." I said.

"On my way." Logan said before hanging up.

"Your mad at me." Honor said.

I turned around and glared at her. "I'm mad at both you and my brother. He should have had my back and stood up for me but instead he felt that in that situation he had to stand by you." I said.

"And Logan?" She asked.

"This shows how little you actually know your brother. Logan has always had my back. Everytime that I have needed someone he has always been there. That's part of the reason that I fell in love with him." I said. Honor truly had no idea who she was dealing with now.

"What's going on here?" Honor and I both turned and looked toward the voice. It was Logan. Logan walked over and stood beside me. "Honor, what are you doing here?" He asked her.

"I came to talk to you. You weren't returning my calls." She said.

"I don't really have anything to say. Your dinner with the parentals the other night did more harm than I think it did good." Logan said. _At least he was ready to stick up for me._

"How so?" Honor asked.

"Honor, that dinner almost cost me Rory. Not to mention the fact that it has caused problems between Rory and James. You can't tell me that your okay with that?" Logan said.

I'd heard enough. "I'm gone. I gotta head to Hartford anyway." I said.

"Hang on." Logan said looking at me before turning back to Honor. "I have nothing to say." He pointed at the door. "There's the door." Honor nodded, walking out the door.

"Come on, we're gonna be late." I said.

 _Logan and I were heading to Hartford for my Dad's birthday. He'd told the grandparents that he wanted something casual. After the dinner with Logan's parents the other night, Mom had told James that Honor wasn't allowed at my dad's birthday dinner. Just like she'd uninvited Steph because she was now dating Tristen. Mom had said that it'd been a hard decision for her to make because she loved Steph like a second daughter, but that she knew it was too much for me trying to deal with her dating Tristen._

 _The ride to my parents house was quiet. Logan hadn't said much. I knew that him turning his sister away had been hard, but I also knew how long he'd liked/loved me and that he didn't want to do anything to risk losing me._

When we pulled into my parents driveway, I turned to Logan. "Are you okay?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I don't know." He said leaning his head back against the headrest. We sat there for a few moments before anything else was said. "Let's go away."

I looked at him confused. "What?" I asked.

"Winter break is coming up. Let's just pack a bag and get away. Just you…me… and no drama." Logan said.

I thought about it for a minute. It wasn't a bad idea. Logan and I had been surrounded by drama for the last week. It'd be nice to get away and there just be the two of us. I looked up at Logan and smiled. "Sounds perfect." I said.

He leaned over and kissed me. "Come on. Your parents are waiting for us." He said.

We got out of the car and made our way into the house. My mom was waiting for us in the front entryway. "It's about time. Where have you been?" She asked us.

"Sorry. We got held up." I said. We handed the maid our jackets. "Mom, are you okay? You seem stressed."

"Well there's been a complication." She said.

"What kind of complication?" I asked as the three of us made our way to the living room. I couldn't believe my eyes. James was standing in the living room with Steph. He had truly lost his mind this time. I turned to Logan. "Excuse me." I said quickly before walking off. I walked over to where James and Steph were standing, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into my dad's study.

"Ow. What's wrong with you?" She asked me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"James said that Honor wasn't welcome here so he asked me if I'd come with him." Steph said.

"Did you happen to wonder why that was?" I asked. She shook her head. "When Logan and I had dinner at his parents the other night… they basically trash-talked me and James didn't stick up for me or even come after me when I walked out. He took their side. Logan refuses to talk to his parents or Honor because of how they treated me." I told her.

Steph walked over and hugged me. "Ror, I'm so sorry." She said and I nodded. "About everything. I should have talked to you about the whole Tristen thing the day after the party."

"It's okay, Steph. I get it… I do. Tristen has this certain charm about him. It's kind of hard to say no. But that's beside the point. Right now… I need you to put your feelings for James aside and stand by me." I said.

She nodded. "I've got your back." She said.

Steph POV

When we walked out of Rory's dad's study, I smiled at Rory before walking back over to where James was talking to his dad. "I'm sorry to interrupt but can I steal James for a second?" I asked.

"Sure, you to go ahead. I see Rory and Logan's arrived." Mr. Hayden said.

I grabbed James' hand and led him out to the balcony that was just off from the living room. "Steph, it's freezing. What's going on?" James asked. I turned around and punched him in his stomach. "Ow. What was that for?"

"You're an idiot. You know that?" I said.

"I see you've been talking to my sister." He said.

"Yeah. You know that she's my best friend, right?"

"Steph…"

"No, you lied to me. You told me that Rory was okay after the dinner the other night. You told me that she was just upset about me dating Tristen. You told me that if I came with you tonight, it might make things better between me and her." I said to him. I was mad now.

"Steph, I can explain." He said.

"I'm listening."

"Rory wasn't talking to me. She's pissed at me because I didn't stand up to the Huntzbergers for her. Steph, she picked Logan…. Logan. She's the Hayden heiress. She could literally have any guy in Hartford and she picked the one guy that I call my best friend." James said.

"Okay… So what? I'm her best friend and you dated me. What's the difference?" I said. "You've got to get over this need of competing with her about everything. Do you know that she didn't even want to be the heiress? When your grandfather told her that she was going to be the Hayden Heiress… she called me in tears. She said that she just wanted to be normal. She doesn't want to be a lawyer. She wants to be a writer… but you know what? She didn't say anything to your grandfather, because she doesn't want to disappoint him." I said, taking a breath in my rant. "If Rory's mad at you for what happened the other night… then maybe you should take a hard look at your life and figure out if your relationship with Honor is worth having Rory pissed off at you." I said making my way back to the door. "Because there's no telling how long she'll freeze you out this time." I said before going back inside.

Rory POV

After walking out of my dad's study, I made my way back over to Logan who was talking to Colin and Louise. "Everything okay?" He asked me, pulling me close.

"Perfect." I said as I watched Steph and James walk out to the balcony. _I hated to do it, but James was about to realize just how bad he'd screwed up this time. If he wanted a cold-hearted princess of Hartford… he was going to get one._ I noticed my Dad walking toward us. "Louise, run." I said. She saw my dad, grabbed Colin and they walked away.

"Hey kiddo." Dad said.

I hugged him. "Happy birthday Dad." I said.

"Thanks kid. Logan, how are you?" Dad asked.

"I'm good sir. Happy birthday." Logan said.

Dad smiled. He hated being reminded of his birthday. "So, how's school?" Dad asked.

"It's good. Keeps us busy that's for sure." I said.

Dad nodded. I felt that there was something that he wanted to either say or ask but didn't want to do it in front of Logan. I gave Logan a look. "I'm gonna get a drink." Logan said, walking off to the bar.

"Dad, what's on your mind?" I asked.

"I just wanted to check on you kid. Your mom told me about the dinner the other night." Dad said.

I let out a sigh. "I'm okay. I'm not happy with James, because he's being idiotic but I'm okay. I'll get through it." I told Dad.

Dad hugged me again. "That's good. Your tough kid. Every one in Hartford knows not to get on your bad side. Your brother will realize his mistake and he'll try to fix things." Dad said.

I gave Dad a soft smile. "I need your help, Dad." I said and he nodded. "Okay…" I said telling Dad about mine and Logan's plans to get away for a bit during Winter Break.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of your Mom and the grandparents." Dad said.

"Thanks."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Rory POV

 _Over the next couple of weeks, Logan and I seemed to have a little less drama in our lives. Thanksgiving had come and since Logan wasn't speaking to his family, Dad had invited him to join us. It had been pleasant except for James. He decided not to spend Thanksgiving with us. I guess he was still upset about the fact that I didn't agree with his choices and that Steph had called him out on it._

It was now the week after Thanksgiving and I was sitting on the couch in my dorm working on an English paper when there was a knock at my dorm door. I got up and went to answer it. I was surprised to say the least at who was standing in front of me. "What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I need to talk to you." He said. _I leaned against my doorframe, not moving._ "Please."

This had to be serious. Not once in our entire lives had my brother ever said please to me. "You have five minutes." I said moving from my spot and letting him in. After he came in, I shut the door and went back to my spot on the couch. He sat on the other end of the couch. "Okay… talk." I said.

"Look, I know these last few weeks… I've been a jerk. You didn't deserve it. You were right. I should have stood up for you or at least made sure that you were okay after that dinner. And then I tried to turn Steph against you by using her feelings for me." James said. _Well at least he was starting to see the light._ "Ror, I'm sorry."

I leaned back against the armrest of the couch. He seemed sincere. "What happened? Did Honor break up with you again?" I asked, coldly. I wasn't sure if I was ready to forgive him yet.

James looked down. "She admitted that she was using me to get back at Josh."

"James, I'm sorry that you got played but you really hurt me. I love you… your my brother, I always will." I said.

"But…"

"But… I'm not ready to forgive you yet. You were the last person that I ever thought would betray me." I said standing up. "But then this isn't exactly the first time you've betrayed me is it?" I asked. The one good thing about Steph dating Tristen has been that she's been able to get information out of him.

James looked up at me, ashamed. "He told you didn't he?"

I shook my head. "No. He told Steph… you know, his girlfriend. How could you? Did you just not want me to be happy?" I asked.

"It wasn't that at all. I was in a bad place at the time. Steph and I had just broken up and Tristen and I were talking about the future when he came to visit me at Princeton and I guess I sort of put thoughts into his head. I'm sorry." He said.

I stood there and shook my head. "I'm gonna say this only once. If you do anything to try and mess with my relationship with Logan…. I promise you… me freezing you out is gonna look like a cold chill." I said. James nodded. "You should go."

James walked towards the door. He opened it before turning back to me. "I'm sorry Ror."

A little while later, I was getting ready for my usual weekly dinner with Grandpa Straub. Once a week, just he and I had dinner together. Tonight he was coming here and we were gonna have dinner at the pub. I was excited. It would be the first time that he's come to campus to have dinner with me.

I was sitting on my bed putting my converses on when my cell rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Logan. I quickly answered. "Hey babe." I said.

"Hey. So, guys night is already over." He said.

It was Logan's poker night. "What happened?" I asked.

"Well, Finn was already tipsy when he showed up and he pissed Robert off and Robert hit him over the head with the liquor bottle so now we're at the ER." Logan said.

"Wow." I said. Robert really needed to work on his anger issues. They'd always been a problem. "Do I need to come down there and drive you guys back?" I asked.

"No, I had Frank bring us. He'll drive us back." He said.

"Okay." I said looking at the clock. "I gotta go babe. I'm gonna be late meeting Grandpa." I told him, grabbing my jacket out of my closet and heading out the door toward the pub.

"Okay babe. Love you." He said.

"Love you too, Logan." I said hanging up.

Steph POV

I had decided to go visit Tris at Princeton. He'd been kind of distant lately and I wanted to find out why. I was sure that by now he knew that I had told Rory about what James had done. I still couldn't believe that James had basically told Tris that it would be a bad idea for him and Rory to have a long-distance relationship… especially being Freshman in college. No wonder he'd been distant with everyone after his breakup with Rory. But in a way, it had worked out because Logan was so much better for Rory. When she needed someone… he was there. When she needed space so she could study… he gave it to her. Plus, he always made sure that he was waiting with a cup of coffee for her every morning. I could totally see the two of them getting married and being the power couple within our group.

When I got to Tris' dorm, I knocked on the door and waited for him to answer. When the door opened, I expected it to be Tris but instead it was a girl. "Is Tristen here?" I asked.

"Yeah come on in." She said.

I walked into the apartment and over to Tristen's room. At this point I was kind of worried at what I would find. I knocked on the door and waited. A minute later, the door opened and Tris was standing there. "Hey, what are you doing here?" He asked me.

I gave him my society smile and said, "I came to see you. Is this a bad time?"

He looked a little nervous. "Give me a minute and we'll go get some coffee." He said, as if he was trying to keep me out.

"Sure. I'll just come in and wait." I said making my way to push the door open. When I got the door open, I saw that Tris had a half naked girl laying in his bed. I turned and glared at him. "I can see why you've been distant." I said before walking out of the room.

I was halfway across the common room when Tris caught up to me. "Steph wait." Tris said.

"Why? I drove all the way out here because I noticed that you've been distant. Only when I get here, there's a skanky blonde answering your door and you've got another one in your bed. You know I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt because I actually believe that you're a decent person inside… but then you play me for a fool." I said.

"I'm sorry." Tris said. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to him. "I'm an idiot, okay. I got drunk last night and when I woke up the girl was in my bed. I don't know who either of them are."

I shook my head and pulled away from him. "Getting drunk… isn't an excuse." I said before walking out.

Rory POV

Dinner with Grandpa Straub was always pleasant. I didn't have the added stress of Grandma trying to make plans for my life. When I got to the pub, Grandpa was sitting at a table in the back. I walked over to join him. "Hi Grandpa." I said, taking my jacket off and sitting down to join him.

"Hello Rory. Everything okay? You're a little late tonight." Grandpa said.

"Yeah. My last class ran a little late." I said. Grandpa nodded. The waitress came over and took our order. "Umm Grandpa I wanted to talk to you about something." I said and he nodded. "I've been thinking about next semester and I'd really like to move out of the dorms." I said.

"Hmm… it's highly unusual for freshman to not live in the dorms. Is there a reason?" Grandpa asked me.

"Well, there's a little complication." I said. "Steph has been dating Tristen so he's been at our dorm a lot. It's just kind of awkward, you know?"

Grandpa nodded. "I understand. And you don't want to hurt Steph's feeling by moving to another dorm?" He asked me.

The waitress came back with our drinks. "Exactly." I said, taking a drink of my coffee.

"What are Logan's thoughts on the issue?" Grandpa asked, completely blinding me.

"Logan's thoughts?" I asked and Grandpa nodded. "Well, I mean he hates the idea of me having to move but he also understands how weird it is for me to have to see Tristen at my dorm after the way things ended." I said. _I couldn't tell Grandpa that I'd been staying at Logan's, let alone that I had clothes at Logan's._

"Hmm…You two seem to be getting really close lately, especially since you had that falling out with James." Grandpa said.

 _What was Grandpa getting at?_ "Well, I mean Logan and I have always been close. But, yeah, with everything that happened with James we have been closer." I said.

"I'll get you the apartment, on one condition." Grandpa said and I nodded. "Bring Logan to dinner. We know him as your childhood friend but it's time to introduce him as your boyfriend."

 _I'd known that this conversation was coming and I'd been dreading it. I guess I'd hoped that maybe they'd give me more time._ I nodded. "I'll talk to Logan." I said, giving Grandpa a soft smile.

"Good. Oh here comes the food." Grandpa said.

While walking back to my dorm, I couldn't get my conversation with Grandpa Straub out of my head. Normally it was Grandma Francine that would want to meet my boyfriend. It was strange that Grandpa was asking for a formal introduction… unless Grandma had put him up to it. I had just walked into my dorm when my cell rang. I pulled it out of my jacket pocket and looked at the caller ID. It was mom. I answered, "Hey mom." I said, trying to shrug my jacket off.

"Hi sweets. How was dinner?" She said.

"It was fine. Grandpa wants a formal introduction to Logan." I told her.

"Let me guess… you asked him about the apartment and that's the condition?"

"You guessed it." I told her, hanging my jacket up.

"What're you gonna do?" She asked me.

"I'm gonna talk to Logan. I really need the apartment mom. James keeps showing up. Tristen's here a good bit because of Steph. I can't keep staying at Logan's… sometimes it's like a frat house." I said, causing mom to laugh. "I'm serious Mom." I said, sitting down at my desk.

"I know hon. I remember when I visited your dad at Princeton I thought the same thing." Mom said.

"So it's normal?" I asked.

"Yep." Mom said as I turned my laptop on. "So when do you and Logan leave for your trip?" Mom asked.

"My last final is on the 16th. If I get done early then we're leaving then if not then we're leaving the 17th." I told mom.

"And he still won't tell you where your going?"

"Nope. He said that he wanted it to be a surprise. But he said that I'm going to love it." I told mom.

"It's driving you crazy, isn't it?" She asked me.

"Absolutely." I said.

 _After talking to mom, I worked on homework that I hadn't had a chance to work on yet that day. I was still working on it three hours later when Logan climbed through my window._ "Why did you climb through the window?" I asked him.

"Steph's light is on." He said.

"She's not here. She went to Princeton." I told him.

"Oh. Well that's good to know." I raised an eyebrow at him. "That means that Tristen isn't here."

I rolled my eyes. "So, Grandpa Straub wants a formal introduction. That's the condition to him getting me the apartment." I told Logan.

He sat there looking at the floor, deep in thought. Then he looked back up at me. "Then lets do it." Logan said. I looked at him confused. We hadn't been dating long. I figured that this would be the last thing that he would want. "Ror, you need that apartment. I have no doubt in my that this dinner will go better than the one at my parents house. Your family has always loved me. I mean think about it. I spent most of my time in middle and high school at your house. It will be fine." Logan said trying to ease my mind. And he was right. I was nervous about this dinner after the one that we had with his parents. That dinner was the reason that I wasn't speaking to my brother. Logan grabbed my hands and held them. "No matter what happens at this dinner, it will not change how I feel about you."

I couldn't help but smile. "You can be really sweet when you want to." I said. I called Grandpa before Logan and I went to bed to let him know that Logan would be with me for dinner Saturday night. I think for the first time in my life, Grandpa actually sounded excited.

 _Steph didn't come home that night, which wasn't unusual but I had this feeling that something was wrong. I knew that when she found out that I was moving out of the dorm that she would be mad at me. But for the first time in my life I was thinking about me. I always did things to make other people happy. I accepted my fate as the Heiress to Hayden Law to make Grandpa Straub happy. I went to Yale to make Grandpa Richard happy. I dated Tristen because it was apparently the right thing to do. I was happy with Logan but I also felt like it was time for me to do something for me._

 _Even if that meant formally introducing him as my boyfriend…_

A/N: The next chapter is going to be a flashback of Rory and Tristen's breakup….


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 _ **Chilton Academy, Senior Year…**_

 _Ever since we all started receiving college acceptance letters, Tris had been distant. We all knew that we had family legacies, destinies and obligations. But the thing was… we knew that we could count on each other. Tristen's family had always gone to Princeton. Steph's family went to Yale as did the McCrea's. Finn's family didn't really have a legacy, so he'd decided to go to Yale. Paris' family was known for going to Harvard. Logan's family had always gone to Yale. As for my family… the Gilmore's were Yale bound and the Hayden's were Princeton bound. James had already chosen Princeton and seemed to be doing well there._

 _I hadn't opened any of my acceptance letters yet, because Logan and I decided that we wanted to open them together (even though he was going to Yale). I was sitting in the courtyard waiting for Logan when I saw Tris walk out of the school and head towards his car. Guess he's avoiding me. This was where Logan found me. "Hey." He said._

 _I looked up at him. "Hey. Did you bring them?" I asked him._

 _He nodded. "Yeah. You got yours?" He asked me._

 _I held my letters up to show him. "Yep." I said. Logan sat on the bench beside me and we both started to open up our letters. Logan had gotten accepted to Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and NYU. "NYU?" I asked him._

 _He laughed. "Yeah, I applied just to piss my dad off." Logan said._

 _"I can understand that." I said. Logan hated the fact that his dad was suck a jerk and I couldn't blame him. When I saw the way that Logan and Tristen's dads treated them I felt so lucky that my dad was so laid back and as easy going as he was. Now granted, he wasn't so calm the time that he found out that I thought that I was pregnant. But once he found out that it was a false alarm he calmed down. "So, are you gonna show him the letters?" I asked._

 _Logan laughed. "Nope. It wouldn't matter. You know that." Logan said. I looked up when I saw Tristen's car drive out of the parking lot. "Everything okay with you two?"_

 _I shrugged. "I don't know." I said. I felt my phone vibrate in my jacket pocket. I pulled it out and looked at it. It was a reminder that I had to meet mom. "I gotta go. Gotta meet mom." I said and Logan nodded._

 _I headed home to meet mom. We were having dinner together (just the two of us, something that we did once a week). I was going to show her my acceptance letters and get her thoughts on where she thought I should go. Mom always regretted not going to college and becoming a society wife like my grandmothers. When I got home, I was surprised that Mom wasn't home. Had she forgotten about our dinner?_

 _When I walked into the living room, I was surprised to see Tris sitting there. "What are you doing here?" I asked, walking in and sitting on the couch opposite of him._

 _"I needed to talk to you." He said._

 _I nodded. "Is it about why you've been avoiding me lately?" I asked._

 _He nodded. "A little." He said. "I got into Princeton."_

 _I sat back and crossed my arms. "Congrats. I knew you would." I said._

 _"Thanks. My father is insisting that I go instead of going to Yale with all our friends." He said._

 _"That sounds like your dad. Thinking about family legacies and destinies instead of what you actually want to do." I told him. Tristen's dad had never understood that Tris didn't want to go to Princeton. He never had._

 _"I know that your gonna get accepted to a lot of places. Your really smart. I'm hoping that maybe you'll consider Princeton so that we can be together." Tris said._

 _Was he saying that if I didn't go to Princeton that we couldn't be together? Was he seriously going to break up with me if I didn't choose Princeton? I was furious but I wasn't going to let him know that. "I'll think about it." I said._

 _A month went by before I made my decision. Mom and Dad were the first ones that I told. I told them that I needed to talk to Tristen before I told the Grandparents my decision because I didn't want Tris hearing it from his Grandparents or his parents. I'd called him and he'd agreed to meet me in the park at the gazebo where we'd had our first date. When I got there he was already waiting for me. "Hey." I said when I walked up._

 _He looked up at me. "Hey." He said. "I was beginning to think that you weren't going to show."_

 _I gave him a small smile. "Well, I'm not sure how your gonna feel about what I have to say."_

 _"What's going on Ror, your kinda scaring me."_

 _"I made my decision about college, Tris." He looked at me hopeful. "I'm not going to Princeton. I'm going to Yale with our friends." I said._

 _He nodded in disappointment. "I get it. It just sucks." Tris said, standing up and running a hand through his hair. "I can't do long distance, Ror." He walked over to me and hugged me. When he stepped back he said, "I hate the idea of being that far away from you."_

 _"Then stand up to your father and tell him that you don't want to go to Princeton." I said._

 _"Rory, it's not that simple. He's determined that I follow that stupid dynastic plan that all of our families have set for us." He said._

 _He turned away from me. "So now what?" I asked._

 _He turned back to look at me. "It means that we're over. I'm sorry Rory." He said before leaving._

 _I couldn't believe this. Tristen had broken up with me just because I wasn't going to go to the same college as him. This sucked!_

 _Two days later Mom, Dad and I were having dinner with all of the grandparents so that I could tell them which college that I'd chosen. I was also going to tell them that Tristen and I had broken up. The Grandmas weren't going to be happy about it. I was pretty sure that they'd secretly been planning our wedding, waiting till we graduated college in hopes that Tristen would propose (Even though we were still in high school… gotta love Hartford Society)._

 _When we got to Grandma Francine's everyone was already waiting for us. Grandpa Straub was the first one to greet me. "Rory dear, are you okay?" Grandpa Straub asked me._

 _I guess my face was still red and puffy where I'd been crying. "I'll be okay Grandpa." I said. When I walked into the sitting room, Logan and his parents were there. He walked over and hugged me. "What're you doing here?" I asked._

 _"Your grandparents invited us." He said and I nodded._

 _During before dinner drinks, I decided this would be my moment that I told them. Better to just rip the band aid off. "Umm, I have an announcement that I need to make." I said. Everyone turned and looked at me. "Well, two days ago, I made my decision about college next year and when I told Tristen my decision… he broke up with me." I said. I heard the grandmas gasping and asking 'there must be some kind of mistake'. "The breakup was caused by my choice of college." I said getting everyone's attention back. "I've taken everyone's opinions of where they think that I should go to college into consideration and I've decided that next year I will be joining my friends at Yale." I said._

 _Of course the Gilmores were happy but what surprised me was what my Hayden grandparents said to me. "Rory, I know that we wanted you to join James at Princeton, but your happiness means more to me." Grandpa said to me. This made me happy because I hated disappointing Grandpa._

 _"Rory, I wish you all the best next year." Grandma said. It wasn't perfect but it was as good as it was gonna get with Grandma._

A/N: Hoped that filled in a few blanks. Next chapter back to reality.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hey guys! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I'm working on getting back into the swing of writing full time again. Thanks to everyone that has stuck with me all these years. Next month marks 4 years that I've been writing on here. I can't believe it's been that long already. In honor of that, I'm working on a new story.

Here's the next chapter. Don't forget to read, review and favorite.

Chapter 8

Rory POV

 _Steph didn't come home for 2 days. She looked horrible when she finally did. It took me a while before I was finally able to get any information out of her. She told me that she'd gone to see Tristen because he'd been distant lately. (I personally knew what he was like when he was distant. I mean, he grew distant with me in high school and then broke up with me). She said when she got to his dorm, a blonde girl answered and then there was another blonde girl half-naked in his bed and he tried to hide it. This was a new low for Tristen. It was one thing for him to push someone away, but this particular method…he knew that this would hurt Steph._

Logan and I were getting ready for dinner with my family. My mom had called me yesterday and told me that Grandma Francine had invited the Gilmore grandparents to dinner as well. When I'd told Logan he'd said that it was better this way because then we wouldn't have to do this a second time. I couldn't help but laugh at the thought. I'd just walked into the common room of my dorm to wait for Logan when Steph walked through the door. "Hey." I said.

"Hey, you look nice." She said.

I laughed. "Thanks. Logan and I are having dinner with the family tonight." I told her.

"Seriously?" She asked and I nodded. "It's a little premature isn't?" She asked.

I didn't understand why Steph was acting like this. Maybe it was because she had just broken up with Tristen and she was lonely. I didn't know what it was but I wasn't going to let her put me in a bad mood. "I gotta go." I said. I grabbed my jacket, keys and phone and walked out the door.

When Logan and I got to Grandpa Straub's, we noticed all of the cars in the driveway. "Should there be this many cars?" He asked me.

I shrugged. "I wouldn't think so but I honestly don't know." I said. And it was the truth. To the best of my knowledge only mom, dad, me, Logan, Grandma and Grandpa Hayden, and Grandma and Grandpa Gilmore were supposed to be at dinner. But then again, James could be making his presence known. When we got out of the car, we walked up to the front door and I rang the bell. Missy, Grandma's maid answered. "Hi, Missy." I said.

"Good evening, Miss Rory. Your family is waiting for you in the sitting room." She said as walked inside and I handed her my jacket.

"Thanks." I said. I grabbed Logan's hand and led him to the sitting room. I don't expect my family to be perfect because we aren't… not by a long-shot. But I do at least expect them to be civilized. When Logan and I walked into the sitting room, everyone seemed to be arguing. "What is going on?" I asked.

Everyone turned and looked at us. In the back of the crowd, I couldn't believe what I saw. _Tristen? What was he doing here? Was this why he'd pushed Steph away? To try and get me back?_ "Tristen? What are you doing here?" I asked him.

He made his way through the crowd that was my family over to me. "Ror, I need to talk to you." He said.

I rolled my eyes. "Now isn't a good time. You shouldn't have come." I told him, leaning into Logan's side. _Tristen looked hurt but at the same time I think that he knew that I know longer had feelings for him. Even though Logan and I hadn't been together long, I think that I knew deep down that I had been in love with him for a long time. I think that it was part of it was why I decided on Yale and not Princeton._ Tristen nodded and with that he left. Once Tristen had left I turned back to my family. "What just happened?" I asked.

Neither one of my grandmothers said anything. My grandfathers were looking at them and my parents were looking at the floor. "Okay, I guess nobody is going to say anything. I don't know who invited him here but whoever it was, you should be ashamed of yourself. When Tristen and I broke up, you all knew how much I was hurting. Who I date isn't anyone's business. It's mine. And if you don't like my choices then I'm sorry." I said. I looked over at Grandpa Straub who looked hurt. "I'm sorry Grandpa. This wasn't how I thought tonight was going to be." I said.

He nodded in agreement. "Your right this isn't how tonight was supposed to be. Francine, you shouldn't have invited that boy. Tonight was supposed to be about Rory and her new relationship with Logan." Grandpa Straub said. He gave Grandma a little nudge. "Go on, apologize to the girl."

Grandma Francine took a step toward me. "Rory dear, I owe you an apology for this evening. I never should have invited Tristen this evening. I do hope that you can forgive my actions." She said.

"It's okay Grandma, I just hope that you understand that my private life is my private life. Okay?" I said and she nodded.

Once we'd gotten past that initial little hiccup, the rest of dinner seemed to go smoothly. During coffee and dessert, I looked over at Grandpa and he gave me a small nod. Nobody else noticed it, but I did. I knew what it meant. It meant that Grandpa was getting me my apartment. After coffee and dessert, the Gilmore grandparents said goodbye and left. Grandma Francine had gone to make sure the kitchen staff was cleaning up. Logan had walked outside with my parents while I talked to Grandpa. "I'll call the realtor tomorrow." Grandpa said.

"Thanks Grandpa." I said, hugging him before heading outside to meet up with Logan and my parents. After saying goodbye to my parents Logan and I headed back to Yale.

 _I couldn't believe the events of the night. It was supposed to be the night that I officially introduced my boyfriend to my family. Instead, Grandma Francine had to try and ruin the evening by inviting Tristen. I'd never seen Grandpa look so disappointed in Grandma. Logan… Logan had been amazing through it all. He never once seemed nervous throughout the whole night. And on top of it all… I was getting my apartment._


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 - Logan POV

The dinner with Rory's family hadn't gone as bad as I thought. I mean, it definitely could have gone worse. Tristen being there when we got there wasn't exactly ideal, but Rory sent him away. That I was grateful for. Her Grandfather had agreed to call the realtor and find her an apartment. Even though her and Steph were best friends, Rory couldn't get past the fact that Steph had been dating Tristen (even though they were broken up now). It had damaged their relationship.

Winter Break was coming up and Rory and I were getting away for a few days. I'd decided to go see my grandfather. I knew that he wasn't thrilled about my relationship with Rory but I was hoping without my mother around that maybe I could get him to understand a little better. I drove out to his apartment in New York. He'd sold the house that he'd shared with my grandmother when she'd passed. When I got there, his made let me in and said that he was in the sunroom. _His sunroom was his room that he'd put a bunch of stuff that reminded him of my grandmother._ "Granddad." I said, when I walked into the room.

He turned and looked at me. "Logan, this is a surprise. I thought you'd be studying for finals." Granddad said.

"I am later, but I wanted to talk to you… without Mom around." I said and he nodded.

"About you and Rory?" I nodded.

"I get that you and Mom think that I need a 'society wife', but I'm not talking about marriage right now. Yes, Rory and I are dating but the only reason that I even brought her to dinner that night was because Honor asked me too." Wait. Honor. James. The dinner. It was all a set up. Honor did this.

"And the light bulb goes off." Granddad said.

"Honor did this? Why?" I asked.

Granddad took a drink of his tea. "Honor feels that it's unfair that you will inherit the company and not her." He said. "So… in an attempt to hurt us, she decided to hurt you. She knew how much you cared for Rory, even before the two of you started dating. She knew that if she caused or attempted to cause a wedge between you and Rory that it would cause problems between us and you." Granddad told me.

I just couldn't believe it. Honor had been behind all the problems. "But does she think if she puts a big enough wedge between any of us that your going to change your mind and she'll inherit the company?" I asked.

"I don't know. Your father and I have decided to confront her when she comes home for Christmas. I don't think that it's a good idea if your there." He told me.

I nodded. "That's fine. I was coming to ask you if I could use the house in The Hamptons for a few days during winter break." I said.

"Sure. The keys are in my desk." He said, giving me the okay to get them. I stood up and started to make my way out of the sunroom. "And Logan -" He said causing me to turn around, "As far as I'm concerned Rory is a sweet girl." He said.

"Thanks Granddad." I said, walking out of the sunroom and heading towards his study to get the keys.

On my drive back to Yale, I couldn't help but think about the information that I'd just found out. Honor had been behind everything. She gotten back together with James to hurt Rory because she knew that Rory wasn't going to like it. She knew that if she hurt Rory that it would hurt me. Then she'd set up the dinner with my family and insisted that I bring Rory because she what it would look like to the family. She knew that to the family it would look like we were serious and considering marriage. And it was all because she wasn't going to inherit HPG someday. It was ridiculous. However, I couldn't tell Rory about it. It would just make things worse and then she'd start feeling bad about freezing James out. But that situation he brought on himself. All because he stood by my sister and not Rory that night. When Rory did find out about all of this it was going to kill her. Rory and James had been used as pawns in my sisters game of chess. I couldn't think too much about it right now though. I had to finish planning my trip with Rory.

Rory POV

I needed to study for finals so I'd headed home to study. When I walked in the door, I was surprised to see that James was there. We both stood there in the living room and stared at each other. Things still weren't better between us. "I didn't think that you'd be here." James said.

"Needed a quiet place to study." I said. "Steph been real emotional since she broke up with Tristen." I told him and he nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"Needed to get away for a day or two." James said.

I nodded. "Okay then. I'll be in my room." I said, turning towards the stairs and heading up to my room. Normally this wouldn't be weird, if things between James and I were okay. But there not. So suddenly I feel weird being in my house. _I'll be so happy when I have my apartment._ I reminded myself that I needed to call Grandpa to see how the apartment hunting was going. When I walked into my bedroom, it was strange. Even though I was just here a few weeks ago for Thanksgiving, it still felt strange. I guess that showed how much my life had changed in the last few months. I knew that going to college meant that I wouldn't be home as much, but being here now… it was almost as if I didn't miss it.

Once I'd gotten settled in, I called Grandpa to check in about the realtor. He said that he hadn't been able to find an apartment in New Haven but that he'd found me a townhome in Hartford as long as I didn't mind the drive. I told him that was fine. He gave me the address and told me that I could go take a look at it. I decided to call Logan and see if he wanted to go with me. "Hey." He said when he answered.

"Hey. So grandpa found me a townhouse that he wants me to take a look at. Wanna go with?" I said.

"I would but I already have plans. I'm trying to get things finished up for our trip next week." Logan said.

I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. I was excited about our trip but I didn't exactly wanna go look at this townhouse by myself. "It's okay. Maybe I can see if Mom will go with me." I said. After hanging up with Logan, I went downstairs to find Mom. She was in the living room drinking a cup of coffee. "Hey mom." I said plopping down on the couch next to mom.

"Hey kid. James said that you were here." Mom said.

"Yeah. I needed a quiet place to study." I told her.

"How's that going?"

"Eh. I talked to Grandpa. He said that he found me a townhouse that he wants me to take a look at. You mind going with me."

"No problem kid. Then maybe we can hit the mall." Mom said.

"Yeah maybe." I said.

Mom and I headed over to the address that Grandpa had given me. I looked under the mat where Grandpa said the realtor had left to key for me. I unlocked the front door and me and Mom went inside to take a look around. "I thought Grandpa was looking for you a place near campus." Mom said.

"He said that he couldn't find anything." I told her as I looked around. It was nice. It was two bedrooms, which meant that I could set up one of the bedrooms as a study/office. The kitchen was a nice size, it wasn't too big which was good because I didn't cook much anyway. "So what do you think?" I asked her.

"You okay with the drive back and forth to school?" Mom asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah. I am. It won't be that bad." I said.

"Kid, it's your decision. I get that you wanna move out of the dorm because of the whole Steph and Tristen thing… but are you sure about this? I mean you could always just move back into your bedroom." Mom said.

"Mom, I get that you wanna keep me close. But it's time. You gotta let me spread my wings and fly." I said.

"Did you get that out of a fortune cookie?"

I couldn't help but laugh.

 _I could feel that things were definitely starting to change. Everything was lining up with my townhouse, so that was one less thing for me to worry about. Mom had agreed to not let James have my address. I could tell that she was hurt that I was basically cutting my brother out of my life but she still understood. I still had to pack for my trip with Logan, which I was grateful that we were taking because I still had no idea how I was going to tell Steph that I was moving out of the dorm. But ever since she had started dating Tristen, our friendship had changed. I wasn't sure if things could go back to the way they were before. And I wasn't sure if I could forgive her. I was sure that she was going to be pissed but at this point… I could care less._


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 - Rory POV

 _After I'd gotten back to the dorm, I decided that I just needed to rip the band-aid off and tell Steph that I was moving out of the dorm._ "Steph, I need to tell you something." I said, joining Steph on the couch with the pizza we'd ordered.

"What's up?" She said.

"Okay, I don't know how your going to react to this and please try not to be too pissed at me." I rambled.

Steph raised an eyebrow at me. "What's on your mind, Ror? Your kind of worrying me." Steph said.

I let out a breath that I didn't realize that I was holding. "Grandpa got me a townhouse for next semester." I said. "I'm moving out."

Steph nodded. "It's okay. I get it. I knew that all the Tristen stuff did some damage." Steph said.

"I'm sorry." I said, walking to my room. I had to finish packing for my trip with Logan.

When Friday came, I took my last final that morning. I was pretty sure that I'd aced it. Mom had said that she'd come pack up my dorm for me because the movers were coming while we were gonna be gone. And she'd also agreed to let them in my condo. Mom was being so great about all of this. I was waiting for Logan, so I decided to start packing a little. I was packing up my books when I heard a knock. I walked out to the common room and opened the door. No surprise here… it was Logan. "Why didn't you let yourself in like usual?" I asked him.

He leaned against the door frame. "Because, this is the last time that you'll be at the dorm. When we get back we'll be going to your townhouse." He said.

He was right. This would be the last time that I'd be in this dorm. As a resident any way. I turned and looked around. "Okay. Can we go now?" I asked and he nodded. Logan grabbed my bag that was sitting by the door. I followed him out and closed the door behind me. Logan still wouldn't tell me where we were going but I figured that it was some property that his family owned. I guess I fell asleep in the car because the next thing I knew Logan was waking me up. "Huh?" I said waking up.

"Ror, we're here." Logan said.

As I woke up and climbed out of the car, I recognized where we were. This was Logan's grandpa's place. During high school we'd come out here during the summer. "Elias' place?" I asked and Logan nodded.

"Yeah. It's a long story, but he thought that I should be out of town for a bit." Logan said. I didn't pry, I just nodded. I knew that when Logan was ready he'd tell me. We walked to the back of the car and grabbed our bags before heading inside. Once we unloaded everything from the car, Logan and I both collapsed on the couch. I could tell that whatever was going on was really bothering Logan. "Okay, what's going on?" I finally asked him.

Logan let out a sigh. "Okay, so when I went to see Granddad about using the house… he told me that Honor was behind everything." Logan said, causing me to roll my eyes. "Apparently, Honor's been jealous all these years because I would inherit the family company someday that she decided to cause a rift between everyone. She knew how I felt about you and knew that I would pick you over my family in a second. She also knew that if she was dating James that it would piss you off. She remembered James complaining about when he and Steph dated at Chilton." Logan said telling me the conversation that he'd had with his grandfather.

I stood up from the couch and walked over to the bar, pouring myself a drink. I couldn't believe this. Honor had been behind everything. From James breaking Steph's heart, to trying to break up me and Logan. It had all been her. And it was all for a stupid reason… the fact that Logan was the heir to the family company. I poured myself another drink before turning back to Logan. "What else did Elias say?" I asked.

"He said that he liked the idea of you and me… said that he thought that we could be some power couple…"

Sounds like something that Elias would say. The problem now was that apparently Honor was out for vengeance. Question was… what to do about it? And how to do it?

A/N: And that's chapter 10. Rory now knows that Honor has been behind everything but what's gonna happen when they get back to reality?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 - Rory POV

My trip with Logan wasn't anything special, but it was nice to get away for a bit. And other than the conversation that we'd had about Honor, our trip had been completely drama free. Towards the end of our trip Logan and I realized that soon we would have to go back to reality and that meant dealing with all of the Honor drama.

We were on the interstate headed to my townhouse in Hartford, when my cell rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was my dad. "That's weird." I told Logan. He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "It's my dad." I said before I answered. "Hey Dad."

"Hey kiddo. You on your way home?" He said.

"Yeah. We're headed to Hartford now."

"That's good. That's good." He said.

Something was wrong. "What's wrong dad? You've got the same tone that Mom gets when something is wrong." I said.

"Well… There's a slight problem with your townhouse." He said.

What could possibly have happened? I've only owned the thing for a week and I haven't spent a single night there. "What happened, Dad?" I asked.

"It was broken into. I don't want you to worry though. Your Grandfather and I are taking care of it. We've already filed a police report." Dad said.

I rolled my eyes. This wasn't happening. "Thanks Dad. I'll meet you at the house." I said, before hanging up. After I hung up with Dad, I put my phone back in the cup holder where I'd had it. "Someone broke into my townhouse." I told Logan.

"What?!"

I nodded. "Yeah." I said, sitting there thinking for a minute. Honor… "Logan…"

"What…. You have that tone." He said laughing.

"You don't think… You don't think that Honor would break into my house do you?" I asked him.

Logan got off at the Hartford exit. "Ror, I'd like to say that I don't think that Honor would do anything like that… but honestly I wouldn't put anything past her at this point. I mean, she's jealous of me because my father passed her over and decided to make me the heir of the company. But you… You're the first one out of all of us that is going to inherit a family company because your from two prominent families."

What Logan was saying made sense… but at the same time I couldn't help but think about what lengths Honor would go to, to get what she wanted. "Did you ever hear from Elias? About how things went with Honor?" I asked, curiously.

Logan shook his head. "No, and that kind of worries me. He's staying with my parents. Do you mind if we stop by there before I drop you at home?" He said.

"No, not at all. It's been a while since I've seen him… under good circumstances that is. And besides we have to go to my parents house so I can talk to my dad." I said. .

When we got to Logan's parents house, there were several cars in the driveway. This wasn't exactly unusual but it wasn't exactly normal either. When Logan parked the car and cut the engine, I looked over at him. He looked worried. "Logan, what is it?" I asked.

"That's my uncle's car. He never comes over. There's got to be something wrong." He said. We got out of the car and made our way towards the front door. When we got close to the door, I noticed that my dad's car was in the driveway. I pulled him back towards me. "What is it?" He asked.

"That's my dad's car." I said, pointing to it.

"Come on. Let's find out what's going on." He said and I nodded.

Logan didn't bother ringing the doorbell. Instead we just walked right on in and hung our coats up. We could hear voices coming from the living room so we headed in that direction. When we walked into the living room, I saw Logan's parents (Mitchum and Shira), Elias, my dad, Grandpa Straub, Grandpa Richard and my mom. Logan and I looked at each other. "What is going on?" Logan yelled.

Everyone stopped and looked at us. "We didn't think that you would be back until later." My dad said.

"We left early and there was no traffic." I said.

"That still doesn't answer the question. What is going on?" Logan asked again.

The men looked around at each other. "Can someone say something please?" I asked in a pleading voice.

I noticed that Elias was walking towards us. "Logan, Rory. Please come in and join us. There is a lot that needs to be discussed." Elias said. We both nodded. Elias always reminded me of Grandpa Straub. He seemed to be a reasonable man. Logan and I followed Elias further into the living room and we sat on one of the couches. "Rory, I assume that Logan has filled you in on what's been going on… with Honor?" Elias asked me.

I nodded. "He mentioned it. He said that was why you suggested that he get out of town for a few days." I said.

Elias nodded. "I hate to say this, but Honor didn't exactly like the fact that we practically cornered her about her recent actions. And we have reason to believe that she is the one that broke into your townhouse." Elias said.

I couldn't believe this. Once again, Honor was screwing with my life. Then it hit me… Elias needed me to do something. I looked up at him and gave him a small smile. "What can I do?" I asked him.

"I think that on some level that you can relate to Honor." Elias said and I nodded. In a way, he was right. I'd always lived in James' shadow. And even though Honor was older, I guess she felt the same about Logan because he was the heir to the family company.

"You want me to talk to her." I said and Elias nodded.

"Yes. I think that maybe you can talk to her and reason with her." Elias said.

I let out a sigh. "I'll see what I can do." I said, reluctantly. I wasn't sure if I could reason with Honor, but apparently Elias thought that I could.

When Logan and I left his parents house, he dropped me off at my parents. "Are you sure about this?" Logan asked me. "You don't have to do this. We can find another way to reason with her."

I shook my head. "Elias is right. On some level, Honor and I are the same. We both have been living in our brother's shadow. Even though she's older, your father made you the heir to the company. The only reason I'm an heiress is because Grandpa Straub has faith in me that I can do it." I told him.

He nodded, understanding that I needed to do this. "Call me after you talk to her." He said, kissing me quickly.

"I will. I love you." I said getting out of the car.

"Love you too." Logan said.

I stood there and watched him pull out of the driveway before I went inside to get my car keys from Mom. After getting my keys, I hopped in my car and drove over to Honor's condo. She'd been living in the same condo since she'd graduated high school. Honor used to let all of us girls come hang out with her and we'd have girls night. But thinking back now… I think that she did it to get inside information so that she could tear us all down.

When I pulled into her driveway, I saw that her car was there. "Here goes nothing." I said to myself before climbing out of my car. I walked up to the front door and knocked. It didn't take her long to open the door. "Hi Honor." I said.

"Rory." Honor said.

"Can I come in? I think we need to talk." I said.

She seemed unsure but nodded. "Yeah." She said, letting me in. When I walked inside, we walked into the living room and sat down. "So, which one of them sent you? Granddad, dad or Logan." She asked me.

"None of them. I got to thinking that you and I are more alike than I originally thought."

"How so?" She asked.

"Well, I got to thinking that even though your older than Logan, you've still been living in his shadow." I said, standing up from the couch that I'd been sitting on and walking over to her fireplace. I started looking at the pictures that she had sitting on the mantle. There were a bunch of her and Logan, mainly as kids. One of all of us (Honor, Logan, James, me, Steph and Colin). "Your dad made him the heir of the company, before even giving you a chance." I said, turning to look at her.

"Yeah, he did." Honor said.

"Grandpa Straub made me the heiress of his law firm. Did you know that?" I asked.

She nodded. "I did. I saw it in the paper after you and Logan graduated."

"Did you know that I never wanted it?" She shook her head. "I always assumed that James would inherit both companies. But after graduation, Grandpa pulled me aside and told me that he felt that I'd be a better fit for the company than James would." I told her.

"I never knew that." Honor said.

"How would you? You never asked me. You just assumed that I was like the rest and that it had always been my family's plan for me to take over the company." I said, kind of harsh.

"Rory, I owe you an apology." Honor said.

I pretend that I didn't know what she was talking about. "What for?" I asked.

Honor let out a sigh. "I've done some really bad stuff the last couple of months. And most of it was towards you." She said.

"Like what?"

"Well for starters, Josh and I intentionally broke up so that I could use James to hurt you and Logan. I knew how Logan felt about you. I have for years." I nodded. "And then when I invited you and Logan to dinner that night, I put it in my family's head that you and Logan were so serious that you were considering marriage. I thought that if I caused a big enough problem that Logan would pick you over the family and he would renounce being the heir to the company and I could step in." Honor said.

"But that didn't happen." I said.

"No, it didn't. I didn't see that Logan was going to make things right with you and push me to the side. Just like I didn't think that you'd pick Logan over James. I thought that your relationship with James was stronger than that. Just like I thought your friendship with Steph was stronger." Honor said.

"Steph? What does Steph have to do with this?" I asked.

"Think about it…"

I thought for a minute. "Tristen." I said and Honor nodded.

"Yep. When Tristen got to Princeton, he realized that he'd screwed up. He'd noticed that you'd spent all summer with Logan. Tristen called me and asked me for help. He asked me if I knew of a way that he could get you back. I told him that the only thing that I knew of was to talk to Steph. After you blew him off when he came up there, that's when he decided to get on Steph's good side." Honor said.

"So basically he used to Steph to get me back." I said.

Honor nodded. "Yes. He wasn't proud of it." Honor said and I shook my head. "After he showed up at your grandparents house, he called me. He said that it was over. He said that he'd lost you for good. He told me that you told him that he shouldn't have come that night, and that he could see how much you loved Logan." Honor said, standing up and walking over to pour us both a drink. She walked over to where I was standing and handed me a glass.

"I do. I didn't realize until Logan told me about his feelings how much I actually loved him." I told her.

She nodded. "I know. That's when I began to feel bad about the trouble that I'd been causing." Honor said.

"But…"

"But… then I got a call from my mom. She said that I was needed at the house for a family meeting. When I got there, I noticed that Logan wasn't there." Honor said, starting her story.

 _Flashback… Honor POV…. Huntzberger Mansion…_

 _When I walked into my parents house, for a family meeting that I'd been called for, I noticed that Logan wasn't there. When I walked into the living room, I noticed that both of my parents and my granddad were sitting there. "What's going on? Where's Logan?" I asked._

 _"He's out of town. Sit down." Granddad said. I nodded. Dad might be the head of the family company but Granddad was the head of the family. I sat on the couch opposite of mom and dad. "Now, I know that your upset about Logan being the heir of the company, but your actions lately… well lets just say that they need to stop." Granddad said._

 _So that's what this was. An intervention so-to-speak. "My actions? You don't think that my actions are justified? I was passed over as heir to the company because in this family it's unsuited for a woman to run the family company. While Rory, little miss perfect, is heiress to one of her family companies… and my actions aren't justified." I said, standing up. This was ridiculous. Nobody in my family understood. They didn't understand how it felt to come from a powerful family and to be denied the opportunity to prove that you could make them proud._

 _I couldn't take anymore. When I left my parents house, I was driving through Hartford. When I stopped at the light, I looked out my passenger side window and saw some people moving some stuff into a townhouse. I noticed a woman walk out of the townhouse. It was Lorelai, Rory's mom. Rory wasn't living in the dorms anymore. Things must have gotten bad between her and Steph. I made a mental note of the address. I headed home._

 _End of Flashback…._

"A few days later I went back and trashed your townhouse." Honor said finishing her story.

I nodded, already knowing that she'd been the one to do it. "So everyone… me, James, Logan, Steph and Tristen… we were all just collateral damage in your game." I said.

Honor looked down at the floor. "Yes. I'm sorry Rory. It was a game of chess that I was playing with my dad and granddad and I involved other people. I'm really sorry." She said. I wasn't sure if I believed her or not. "I'll pay for the damages and to have your townhouse cleaned." She said. That I did believe.

"Honor, I believe that you are sorry. To an extent. I also believe that you genuinely want to right the wrong that you've done to me, including having my townhouse cleaned. But I'm not the only person that you need to make things right with. You've caused a lot of problems between people and it's going to take some time for those people to forgive you. I hope that you know that." I told her.

She nodded. "I do. I just hope that all of those people will be as forgiving as you are." Honor said.

I walked over to her and gave her a hug. "In time, I'm sure that they will be." I said, pulling back from her. "Just know that your not the only woman trying to find her way in Hartford society. Next time, just call me and we can talk before you feel the need to seek vengeance. Alright?"

She nodded. "Thanks."

When I left Honor's, I called Logan. He had gone back to his parents house. I told him that I would come over and tell everyone what had happened. I told him that I really needed a cup of coffee.

A/N: Honor's explained her actions to Rory, but the question is was she being honest? Did she mean what she said? And if she did… how is she going to make things right?


End file.
